THE CECILIA CHORUS OF NEW YORK PRESENTS

The U.S. premiere of prominent French composer Thierry Escaich’s Messe Romane. Escaich (born in 1965) is an organist-composer in the French tradition of Franck, Louis Vierne, and Messiaen. The Messe Romane premiered three years ago in the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. For this work, written for organ and two choruses, Music Director Mark Shapiro will divide our large, 170+ member chorus into two groups, each with their own parts, who will respond to each other.

Following the Messe Romane will be Charles Gounod’s stirring Requiem, which was to be his last work. He had written it for his grandson, but he himself died of a stroke just a few days after completing it, in 1893.